Marjorie's Vacation eBook

“Under a tree is the very worst place to be
in a thunderstorm,” said Stella, lifting her
white, little face, and staring at the girls with
big, scared eyes.

Just then another terrible crash and flash made them
all grasp each other again, and then, without further
restraint, they all cried together.

The storm increased. The winds simply raged,
and though the old maple-trees were too sturdy to
shake much, yet the little house swayed some, and
all about could be heard the cracking and snapping
of branches.

“I think—­” began Molly, but
even as she spoke there came the loudest crash of
all. It was the splitting of the heavens, and
with it came a fierce, sudden flash of flame that blinded
them all.

The girls fell apart from one another through the
mere shock, and when Molly and Midge dazedly opened
their eyes, they saw Stella crumpled in a little heap
on the floor.

CHAPTER XVI

FIRECRACKERS

“Is she dead?” screamed Molly. “Oh,
Marjorie, is she dead?”

“I don’t know,” said Marjorie, whose
face was almost as white as Stella’s, as she
leaned over the unconscious little girl.

Although they tried, they couldn’t quite manage
to lift Stella up on the couch, so Marjorie sat down
on the floor and took the poor child’s head
on her knee, while Molly ran for water.

“I’m sure it’s right to douse people
with water when they faint,” said Molly, as
she sprinkled Stella’s face liberally; “and
she is only in a faint, isn’t she, Marjorie?
Because if people are really struck by lightning they
burn up, don’t they, Marjorie?”

While she talked, Molly was excitedly pouring water
promiscuously over Stella, until the child looked
as if she had been out in the storm.

Marjorie was patting Stella’s cheek and rubbing
her hands, but it all seemed of no avail; and, though
Stella was breathing softly, they could not restore
her to consciousness.

“It’s dreadful,” said Marjorie,
turning to Molly with a look of utter despair, “and
we must do something! It isn’t right
for us two little girls to try to take care of Stella.
We must get Grandma here, somehow.”

“But how can we?” said Molly.
“The ladder is down, you know, and we can’t
possibly get down from the house. I’d try
to jump, but it’s fifteen feet, and I’d
be sure to break some bones, and we’d be worse
off than ever.”

The two girls were too frightened to cry; they were
simply appalled by the awful situation and at their
wits’ end to know what to do.

“It was bad enough,” wailed Marjorie,
“when we were all wide awake and could be frightened
together; but with Stella asleep, or whatever she
is, it’s perfectly horrible.”

“She isn’t asleep,” said Molly,
scrutinizing the pale little face, “but she’s
stunned with the shock, and I’m sure I don’t
know what to do. We ought to have smelling-salts,
or something, to bring her to.”